What of those who couldn't escape Katrina?

So, last night, I saw a couple of things that caused me to think about "The State of Things" even though they weren't in any way related to one another. The first thing I saw while Marvin and I were walking through downtown Colorado Springs looking for Cold Stone Creamery. We were approached by several homeless people looking for a handout. They were sitting on street corners and at tables at outside cafes. I am embarassed to admit, instead of doing what I know to be right, and offering to buy them a meal, or at least acknowledging their existance and humanity, I clung to Marvin's arm, stared straight forward and walked a little faster. After taking a seminar on homelessness during my freshman year in college, I should have known better. There was no way harm could have come to me if I had taken the time to talk to these people. The streets were busy, and Marvin was there. But I made excuses in my head. I didn't have any cash. I didn't want to provide them with booze or drug money.

Anyway, once Marvin and I got home, we found some online coverage of hurricane Katrina which we sat and watched for an hour or so. As they were showing images of what was downtown New Orleans or Biloxi, Mississippi, I started thinking of the homeless people we saw earlier in the evening. I know that the governer of Mississippi (and maybe Louisiana) called for an evacuation, but what about those people who absolutely couldn't evacuate? What about people who didn't have access to transportation, or even a safe place to go? Will homeless people even be counted in the death tolls? I doubt it. Who will ever know whether these people survived or not? Who will even care? I don't know what the solution is, or even if there is one, but it makes me sad to think about all of these forgotten people, who most likely, won't even be mourned in their death.

As I watched this coverage, I was reminded of watching the coverage of the tsumani that hit Sri Lanka about a year ago. Many of the images looked quite similar. It struck me that, we're not all that different from the Sri Lankans. Regardless of how affluent we are, and how high we place ourselves on the social scale, when disaster hits, all we have left is rubble. In fact, I would say that we may be worse off than the Sri Lankans in that, we often fail to see that we can overcome by nature in that way. So we build our bridges and casinos on land that is sinking into the ocean and think that nothing will ever happen to us. And then when it does, we get angry and blame God for not protecting us. In anycase, I feel a lot the same now as I did a year ago when I was watching the coverage of the tsumani. I feel like I should be there. Picking up boards, and sifting through rubble, or in a boat looking for survivors, or handing out rations to people left with nothing. I feel like running over to the Red Cross and saying "I don't care what you want me to do, just send me over there to help out!" So it goes for me I guess.

Down with the diamond industry, up with Kanye West

So, apparently I've decided recently that instead of updating you all on the boring details of my life, I'm going to use this blog as a method to post my opinions on world happenings. And to urge everyone who may be a semi-regular reader of mine to become more globally aware. Today's topic: Everyone should boycott the purchase of diamonds.

I say this for a couple of reasons. One: diamonds are severely overpriced hardened bits of carbon that actually have no more value than a piece of quartz, but because of an extensive campaign by the De Beers diamond company in the early part of the 20th century, the world (or should I say the western world...) has come to view them as the classic sign of wealth and prosperity. Not to mention, women everywhere have come to view them has the ultimate symbol of love from a man. Which is complete crap. Diamonds are not precious or rare or anything like that. They are as plentiful as quartz, and easy to synthesize in a lab. The ONLY reason why they are so expensive in jewelry stores is because the diamond industry severely regulates the market.

The second reason why I urge EVERYONE to stop buying diamonds is because of the atrocities that have occured in Sierra Leone as a result of the diamond industry. Sierra Leone is a small African country that is being torn apart by war, which is fueled largely by the diamond mining industry in that country. If you do a Google search for "Sierra Leone diamonds" you will immediately encounter several reports on the atrocities that have been occuring in Sierra Leone, which have been said, in a report written by Anup Shah, to be worse than those witnessed in Kosovo. And the war revolves around mostly the diamond mining. The war is fought mostly by children's armies, with kids 18 and under. And not only are these things happening in Sierra Leone, but in Angola, Liberia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Africa is a continent ravaged by war, atrocities and diesease, and something NEEDS to be done to help. We western countries, who colonized the majority of Africa in the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and tore apart Africa through the slave trade, are now refusing to take responsibility for our actions. We sit in our cushy houses with running water and electricity and wonder why Africans haven't been able to keep up with the rest of the world.

Anyways, the reason why I say "up with Kanye West" is that he's actually a popular artist that is releasing socially conscious music. He has a song protesting the diamond industry in Sierra Leone. He also was nominated for (and I think won) a Grammy for a song he wrote called "Jesus Walks." And its just so refreshing to see hip-hop music with a good message, instead of violence and a poor attitude towards women.

Anyways, thats enough for me. I'll step off the soap box now ;).